


Making Promises

by orphan_account



Category: Ava's Demon
Genre: Grim reaper au, Odin what the fuck are you doing in the city, Who am I kidding it started messed up and it's gonna end MESSED UP, ava how sheltered were you, buses are hell, it started out so innocent, odin that place really is a shithole, odin what the fuck are you doing with that kitten, odin you are NEVER getting that deposit back, pedri what the fuck are you doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-11 10:37:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 13,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2064900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To some, Odin Arrow is job applicant No. 4,013, or the big brother/little brother, to most, he's a random guy on the street smoking something strange. To very, very, few he's the apprentice to the most powerful Grim Reaper around. </p><p>He still prefers being that random guy on the street.</p><p>On hiatus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Making Promises

“Yes, I-I want t-to apply for a job here.” The young man stared down the lady behind the coffee shop counter, hands curled in fists, resting on the counter.   
“I don’t know dude, we just hired a few new peeps so ya might not get it.” She blew a bubble, popping her gum and sucking it back into her cyan painted lips. “But just for you, I’ll check.” She winked, walking toward the back, the miles of bracelets piled on her arms jingling in tune with her dangling earrings and rainbow belt clad hips.   
“Fuck it, I-I c-can find someplace else.” He sighed, turning away from the neon themed counter and walking out, the creak of the door covering up the girl’s reply. He started walking down the sidewalk, pulling a beaten up pack of homemade cigarettes from his back pocket. “I’m never gonna find a job in this dump.”   
            He lit the cigarette, blowing indigo smoke into the air and receiving odd looks from people waiting at the bus stop and walking past him. Sure, plenty of people here smoked odd stuff, but purple smoke was just too odd for this town. The man just threw out a few “What are you looking at?”’s and “It’s not marijuana. I swear”’s, waiting for his bus to take him home.

* * *

 Hours later, Odin was sitting in a wooden chair, waiting for his bite sized microwave to heat up some soup pilfered from the local SaveMart. Mail was scattered on the kitchen counter and all over his dining table, opened and unopened bills combining with coupon offers, credit cards offers, the latest postal scams, and more bills. 

His feet were propped up on the table, denim clad calves and dirty shoes stretching over the messy table, leaning back and smoking his pipe peacefully, one hand busy sketching a forest skyline and the other thrown over the back of his chair. It was peaceful. Or at least as peaceful as the city could get, he’d found. Then the lights flickered, the entire apartment rattling as his few electronics buzzed harshly and his soup exploded all over the microwave.

Pedri never knew how to make a subtle entrance. Odin looked up, seeing the imposing figure on the other side of his table, the reaper’s mask scraping the ceiling. “I thought y-you’d let me have dinner first t-this time.”

“That putrid filth is barely fit for rats, much a grim reaper.” The man’s voice was like a river lined with rocks, deep and smooth with a gravely reverberation. “Come, it’s time for you to work.”  Pedri turned away from Odin, making vague gestures.

“I don’t know, Pedri, I’ve survived on it this long.” Odin quickly snuffed out his pipe, flipping his sketchbook upside down and leaving it on the table, following his mentor before the man left him behind.  

The man began to speak, Odin cutting him off before the first vowel escaped his mask clad lips. “Mrs. Penderghast, just a floor above us, died a few hours ago. I was waiting for you to catch on.” That was a lie, and maybe a lucky guess, but Pedri rolled his eyes and followed the young man anyway, watching as he pulled out a pink, cat themed key and unlocked the door.  
“Mrs. Penderghast?” He looked around the quilt and yarn adorned apartment, expecting to find her peacefully ‘sleeping’ in her bed. “Mrs. Penderghast?” Nothing but a snoozing kitten and an unfinished knitting project were inside the bedroom. “Hello?” Odin walked through the tiny halls, pushing open an ajar door to find Mrs. Penderghast bent over her sewing machine, as still as a stone. “Mrs. Penderghast...?” He touched her shoulder, the coldness and stiffness telling him all he needed to know. “Mrs. Penderghast, are you here?” Odin turned around, seeing the same coat and skirt clad woman that was dead at her sewing machine, dyed vibrant shades of red and gold,  standing and looking into the distance, still unsure and unaware.

“Oh! Mr. Arrow, what are you doing here at this hour? Did Lotus escape again?” She stepped toward him, almond eyes wide and her hands raised, the skin thick with blue veins and wrinkles. Odin stepped to her, reaching his hand up as well, his flesh going right through her ghostly form.

“Dare Lin, listen to me, alright?” She nodded, eyes glued to his hand going right through her own. “W-wha...?”

“Mrs. Penderghast, you died a few hours ago. Right at your sewing machine, see?” He sidestepped, watching as her face washed over with the familiar shock and grief then diluting to a calm,  passive realization. “O-oh... Well, I was old anyway...I’ve kept Edgar waiting long enough.” She looked down at her ghostly, see through feet, frowning. “But what about little Lotus? And my affairs? ”

“It’s all someone else’s problem, Dare. Your stuff gets put in storage, Lotus gets put in a shelter, and your apartment gets put on a listing.” He hated having to explain the same thing over and over, but he really hated having to explain it to her.

“No! I-I- there’s so much I could donate! Lotus would die in one of those! I can’t leave if I don’t know!” Mrs. Penderghast drew herself to her full height, trying to look imposing even as she panicked. ”Mr. Arrow, you’ll make sure it’s all taken care of, right?” She worried her brow, hands clasped as if in a prayer.

“I promise, Dare. I’ll do as much as I can.” Odin reached up to put a hand on her shoulder, his hand going through her.

“Oh thank you, Mr. Arrow, thank you!” She smiled wide, shoulders bouncing up and down. “I always knew I could trust you!” She tried to hug him, Odin leaning away as her ghostly form began to glow and fade into stardust

“Crap. Now I actually have to do all that.” He sighed, pulling out his sleek phone. “Now that the soul’s taken care of, time to take care of the body.” He dialed 911, telling the operator about the corpse bent over a sewing machine.

“Lotus?” He peeked back into the bedroom, the kitten still curled up on the bed that would never be occupied again. He walked over, leaning down to examine the fuzzy creature. “You’d die in a shelter.” He picked up the tiny thing, leaning against the wall as EMTs strolled through with a stretcher and a body bag, a double-chinned cop walking over to Odin with a grease stained notepad and getting his story, Odin delivering the same lines he'd given the 911 operator. 

* * *

 “Easiest job yet.” He said to the reaper, two of the demon’s eyes raised at the black puffball held to his chest. “She wouldn't go until I promised to take it.”

“Uh huh. Put it away. Our next stop is on the other side of town.” Pedri glared at Odin all the way to the apartment and to the burnt husk of a house, throwing out a few quips to get the jacket clad man talking.

“So where’s the soul? How do you plan for me to sneak in?” Odin glanced over at the reaper, then back at the grisly scene.

The air was thick with grey and black ash, adding a gloomy filter to everything. EMTs and firefighters were swarming around, two adults sitting in the back of an ambulance, sobbing loudly with shock blankets wrapped around their shoulders. Caution tape flapped in the wind, blocking off a quarter of the cul-de-sac as neighbors and passers by tried to peek at the burned out husk of a home. It looked like a meteor had struck it, the entire structure reduced to a pile of rubble and charred support beams stick out like black, bony claws. The only dot of color in the entire scene was a neon pink ghost sitting on the ground, staring at her bare feet and the ash covered sidewalk. 


	2. How Not to Deal with Small Ghosts (Or Small Animals)

It seemed pretty clear cut. Young ghosts like her usually had little unfinished business. All he had to do was tell them they were dead, that they were ghosts now, make a fake promise to tell their crush or idol how much they loved them, and watch as the ghost faded into stardust.  
This was not a usual ghost, Odin learned.   
“W-well, at least I-I d-don’t have to sneak i-into another c-crime scene.” He approached the neon pink ghost, catching her attention when his leather clad feet nearly stomped on her toes. “Hey...s-so...you’re dead.”  
She looked up at him, dead silent and still as a stone. He shifted in place, impatiently waiting for something to happen. No words slipped out of her small lips, and her wide eyes stare remained as blank as ever. Maybe he wasn’t specific enough?  
“Y-you’re dead. You’re a g-ghost. T-time to go to heaven....o-or not i-f you’re....”  
“Why are you stuttering so much?” The girl kept sitting in the ground, hugging her knees as Odin’s face turned about twenty shades of purple. “Why are you blushing purple?”  
“I-I...  
“Why is that creepy tall guy standing there?” She innocently pointed a neon finger at Pedri.  
“W-why do you a-ask so many questions?!” Odin scowled, snapping his head to Pedri before turning his gaze back to her. “Why a-aren't you g-gone?!”   
“Why are you here, Mr. Indigoblood?”  
“I-indigoblood?! What are you o-on, kid?!” He clenched his hands, ignoring the glare he could feel coming from Pedri.  
“Well. You blush with your blood. Your blush is purple. Is your blood purple, too? Are you an alien? Is he an alien too?”  
“W-will you j-just be quiet?!” He threw his arms out,his fingers curled into claws, teeth grit and his eyes wide. The ghost girl let out a squeak, covering her mouth with both hands. “Geez, this i-is n-not how I-I planned my night.” He sighed deeply, letting his shoulders droop as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “L-let me try this again.” He took another breath, kneeling in front of the girl. Odin staring right into her eyes, his gaze steady and unyielding, unlike his voice. “You are dead. You a-are a ghost. Unl-less you h-have unfinished bu-...business, you are supposed to go to heaven.”   
“Okay.”  
“O-okay? That’s it?”  
“Okay...dokey...?”  
“I’m n-not sure i-if th-that’s better...” Odin sighed, looking down as he tried to think. What could this girl possibly have left to do? Finish that crayon scrawl left on the kitchen table? Make a friendship bracelet? Whatever else normal twelve year olds did? “Do you have a crush, missy?”   
Her face flushed deep pink and red, her eyes wide and eyebrows raised high. “N-no...” She mumbled something else, Odin unable to hear.   
“Well, w-what-”  
“Odin.” Pedri’s rumbling voice filled Odin’s ears, his mammoth presence drawing near. “We have little time to argue childishly. My illusion is growing weak. Unless you plan on letting the whole crowd watch you tilting at windmills, I suggest we exeunt.”  
“...” Odin stood, his mouth a thin line as the wind kept sprinkling salt and pepper ash around the cul-de-sac. “What about the ghost? She’s clearly not going away right now.” “Make another promise. Just get rid of her before you turn your piddly apartment into an asylum for ghouls and cats.” Pedri narrowed his eyes, waiting for his apprentice to speak.   
Odin sucked in a breath, turning around and meeting the red gaze of his mentor. “Just this once. Until I can take care of her. I’m not leaving her here...b-besides...i-it’s a-a long walk.” The rumbling groan that Pedri let out was quickly followed by an usually undignified facepalm, arms crossed.   
“You’re barely a reaper by now. You’re just some philanthropist wearing a reaper’s clothes.” Pedri held up a hand, easily teleporting the trio back to the apartment in a plume of purple smoke.  
“I-I doubt a kitten a-and a ghost c-count as something philanthr-...philantro...philantrop-”  
“Philanthropic. Enjoy the rest of your repsit, Odin Arrow.” Pedri disappeared in a column of smoke, leaving the scent of sulfur and burnt florem mortem in the air.  
The whole apartment was silent for a while, the ghost girl sitting on the couch, light as air legs kicking as she took in the stained eggshell walls, the eclectic mish mash of press board tables, hand me down bookshelves, handmade (with love) wooden chairs and rustic sketches taped to the wall. The books she spotted ranged from Watership Down and The Art of War and all the way to Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Aesop's Fables. There was no TV in the living room, something she mentally marked down as boring and maybe even deprived. There was a smell in the air of old food, tobacco smoke and something herbal she couldn’t name. She crinkled her nose, legs still kicking on the worn plaid couch. “So...where’s the kitten?”  
“W-what?” Odin raised an eyebrow, look at her from the kitchen.  
“Where’s the kitten? That tall man mentioned a kitten.” She sat up straighter, looking around the dingy living room for the cat.   
“L-lotus? I-I l-left them i-in my bedroom.” He set down the bowl he was freeing from its crusted soup prison, walking down the single hallway in the apartment, knowing the ghost girl was following him when he saw a faint pink light reflected on the hall walls. “N-now...a-as long a-as you’re here, y-you can be in any r-room but th-this one, u-understand?” He turned toward the girl, watching her nod quickly, clutching fistfuls of her dress. “G-good.”   
Odin entered the dark, messy room, finding the black puffball exactly where he had dumped them. “Here, kitty kitty.” He picked them up, the puffball yawning and exposing a bubblegum pink mouth as he brought them to his chest. He slipped back outside before the ghost could get a good look inside, lowering his hands to let her see the animal curled up in his palms.  
“Oh, she’s tiny!” The girl smiled, gawking at the snoring kitten.   
“Y-yeah...a-and they’re going to a better home very soon.”   
“Oh...” She frowned, stepping back from the man. “Why can’t you keep him?”  
“I’m very busy, and they’re very small and fragile and need a lot of care.” Odin walked out to the living room, dumping the kitten on the couch, returning to his losing battle with the kitchen dishes. The ghost girl followed shortly, draping herself over the couch so her eyes were as close to the feline as possible.   
“What’s your name?” The girl asked after yet another period of silence, Odin yet again sketching as the tiny dishwasher ran.   
“W-what?”  
“What’s your real name, Mr. Indigoblood?”  
“Please don’t use that nickname.”  
“Then give me your real name.”  
“...” He pursed his lips, wondering if it would even matter to give her his name. Well, he could avoid that nickname if he gave it out. And he just might get hers. “Odin.”  
“I’m Ava Ire.”  
“Enjoy your stay, Ava Ire. And stop kicking your legs, it’s ruining my sketch.”


	3. Tick Tock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating has been bumped up due to swearing. And I want to thank everyone for the hits and kudos!

He didn’t remember falling asleep, and for the first few seconds after he opened his eyes he didn’t remember any of the events of yesterday, yelling out in shock and tumbling to the kitchen floor.  
“Er...good morning, Mr. Odin.” Two bare feet stepped into his vision, the stained white tiles faintly visible through her form. ‘Mr. Odin” groaned, rubbing his now aching head and sitting up, the world spinning.  
“Murnin...” He rubbed his eyes, looking up at her from his current vantage point crumpled up on the floor.  
“You look awful.” The ghost girl leaned over him, hands folded and pressed to her lap, drowning in a sea of ruffles.  
“Th-Thanks...y-you look-” He got to his feet with a groan, nearly stepping on his sketchbook and a few dulled pencils. “-pink. R-really p-pink.” He rubbed his neck, his shoulders and back aching fiercely.  
Ava huffed, gliding past him and trying to pick up the pencils and their shavings that littered the floor. Ava’s hands went through the shavings, right through the floor, and then Ava herself tumbled head first through the laminated tiles with an “ Ahhh!”  
Odin chuckled, crouching down and picking up the mess. He turned his sketchbook over, the faces of his family and of Ava tucked between sketches of clockwork. “W-wait...”

 

“Oh sh-shit!” Odin flew out of his apartment, pulling on a jacket and holding a mish mash of papers in his hand. He thundered down the stairs, hitting cracked and chalk covered cement. “God damn it!” He cleared the apartment parking lot, the sun pounding on his as he raced toward the bus stop. He could see the dark blue bus, advertisements pasted on every available surface, the door already closing. “Wait! Wait up!” He pushed himself to run faster, his own ragged breaths loud in his ears. “Wait for me!” He pounded on the door just as the bus began to pull out, an unamused busdriver opening it.  
“You’re payin’ double for that stunt, Arrow.” The driver rolled his eyes, his large adam’s apple bobbing as he took another swallow of trashy energy drink.  
“Y-yeah. P-promise it w-won’t happen again...” He swiped his bus pass, collasping into the nearest seat, checking over his many job applications. An elderly woman glared at him for using the disabled seats, jabbing his foot with her cane and signing for him to get up. He shot her a glare just as bad, getting up and headed to the nearest non-disabled seat.  
“I’ve never used one of these before.” A familiar voice chimed out, Odin nearly jumping out of his seat.  
“God-!...What are you doing here?” He whispered through grit teeth, looking around the crowded bus.  
“I guess I had chances to take the bus, but I never did.” She kicked her legs, looking at the ads clumsily placed above the passenger’s heads and the crayon vomit colored seats. “Why’s a costume shop for ‘adults only’ open in July?” She tilted her head at a certain ad, Odin promptly going purple in the face.  
“H-how old a-are you, k-kid?!” He stared at her, papers crumbled from how tight he held them.  
“I’m 15, Mr. Purpleface.” She crossed her arms, nose upturned.  
“You look 12, Pinkie.” He returned to his applications, smoothing them down as the clock ticked away, several people now staring at Odin. He easily ignored both the crowd and Ava’s replies. 

 

“...and I spend several years in my childhood learning to cook with what was a-available.” He stared at the bald interviewer, noticing that the man was busier fiddling with his pen than listening to him.  
“This place smells bad.” The ghost girl had draped herself over an empty chair, taking in the dimly lit office.  
Odin coughed, the man’s bald head snapping up. “And that’s most of the experience I have with cooking.”  
“Oh! Well, that’s quite a history, Mr. Arrow.” The man dropped the pen, reaching for a pencil. “But you see, there are a few things on your application that raise red flags.” The man pointed to the wrinkled paper on his desk. “You’ve moved from job to job very often, some you didn’t even hold down for six months.“  
“My family and I used to move around a lot, but I’ve decided to settle down now.”  
“Why pick a dump like this city, then? Most people here are just itching to get out.”  
“Most people here don’t appreciate what they have.”  
“A bold statement.” The interviewer smirked.  
“Is that a problem?” Odin narrowed his eyes.  
“Ooodiiin, can we leave yet?” She groaned, sinking further into her seat, then sinking right through it.  
“Not at all. Now-” He pointed to a section of Odin’s application, rambling on as the sound of wind and growling filled Odin’s ears, the room shaking as the lights flickered. “No..n-not here, not n-now.” Odin’s vision swam, the interviewer continuing on as if nothing was wrong.  
“...Mr. Arrow? Are you listening? I said...” The man continued to ramble, Odin starting to sway in his seat. “Mr. Arrow? Are you okay?” The man raised an eyebrow, staring at him.  
“I-i..” He screwed his eyes shut, flowers blooming and dying all around the office. “I-i’’m s-s-sorry... c-can we reschedule th-this?”  
“Mr. Arr-!” Odin bolted out of the office, slamming the door. He ran outside as fast as he could, the halls swaying as odd creatures danced on the walls, the ceiling getting lower as he watched.  
The second he set foot outside, it all disappeared, replaced by Pedri standing in front of him. “Ah, good. You have a job to do.”  
Odin fished out his pipe, Pedri stepping back as soon as he saw it. “Y-you know..I-I almost g-got th-that j-job...” He lit the pipe, hands shaking as he did so.  
“That job is barely worth the word ‘job’. And it’s barely worthy of a reaper.” He narrowed his eyes through his mask, gaze floating over to the ghost girl walking through the walls. “Odi-”  
“Mr. Arrow!” The interviewer ran out, holding Odin’s application. “Thank god you’re still-”  
He stopped dead in his tracks, eyes darting from the demon, to the ghost, to the man exhaling purple smoke. “What the-”  
“They’re cosplayers.” He pointed to Ava. “She’s my sister, so you see why I need this job.”  
“Oh. Well, Mr. Arrow. We really need to discuss that reschedule. “ He fished out a blank piece of paper, a pen neatly clipped to it.  
“I-i’m free a-anytime. B-but can we do it in a-a p-place that’s n-not so...” He made a box with his hands, pipe clenched between his teeth. “-schmall.”  
“Alright. The terrace is still open. How about...” He wrote something down quickly, presenting it to the other man. “Next Monday at 8:30?”  
“Sure. I have to take these two somewhere now.” He took the paper, examining the horrid scrawl as the pair followed him, the interviewer saying a quick goodbye.  
Perdi finally created an illusion to hide him and Ava, Odin glaring straight ahead as he went toward the bus stop. “You’re an ass, Pedri.”


	4. Hell Is A Bus Ride

This had to be the single most stressful bus ride he had ever been on. Frankly, there was a bit of competition, but Odin knew- well, hoped- that there were few things more stressful than sitting sandwiched between a ceiling scraping Grim Reaper and the ghost girl he was glaring daggers at.   
“How was I supposed to know he was coming? It’s not like I knew he could see me!” Ava stared up at the Reaper, arms crossed and eyebrows knit.  
“You shouldn’t even exist, you know. Ghost are not supposed to wander the earth as long as you have,” Pedri narrowed his eyes at Odin, “Especially since a Reaper approached you so quickly. I highly doubt you have much in the way of unfinished business, Ava Ire. ”  
Odin didn’t want to breath, narrowing his focus to the piece of paper in his hands, the low rumble and shrill sound of the two ghosts arguing still loud in his ears.   
“Welly maybe if he did anything that wasn’t a boring job interview I’d remember a few things! I never did a job interview in my life!”   
“Shall we go to Freddy Fazbear’s pizza and the children’s playground at the mall? Surely you’ll find a toy you failed to chew on or a child you never got to hit.”  
“I’m 15! And that place was shut down!”   
“We’ll go to the mall and you can ogle boys until you finally fade away. Or maybe you just needed that boy band’s CD? I’m sure Odin will happily pay up.”  
“Can you stop patronizing me?! Maybe if you’d listen to me you’d know where I usually was!” She threw her arms up, slamming her fists into the seat.   
“Ugh, c-can you t-two just st-stop? You’re giving m-me a headache.”Odin leaning forward in his seat, rubbing his temples. Luckily, the rest of the ride was spent in relative silence before they arrived at their stop. Once his feet were on the sidewalk, he began to head toward the park, his two ghosts following closely.   
“Odin?” Ava floated in front of him, waving her hand to catch his attention. “I know you might not want to, but there’s a park I used to go to; and I think it might be useful to visit it.” She clasped her hands together, a pleading look in her eyes.  
“Why do y-you need t-to see s-some stimpy p-park? Isn’t th-this one c-c-close enough?” Odin sat on a well worn bench, pulling out his sketchbook and staring ahead, eyes squinted.  
“Just this one time, I promise! I can’t really remember anything right now, so maybe the park would remind me, you know. “ She started twiddling her thumbs, floating around him in circles.   
“M-make Pedri t-take you! You c-c-can float that f-far, c-can’t you?!” He swat the air, groaning as he lost his pen. He got on one knee, feeling around the bench for it. Ava gave Pedri a wary glance, shuffling closer to Odin.   
“I don’t trust Pedri.”  
“N-neither do I-I, kid.” He found his pen, albeit a bit dirty. He sat back down, picking a slice of skyline to sketch and putting lines to paper. 

“Dont let it happen again, Arrow.” The bus driver stared down at Odin, rolling their eyes as he sheepishly slid his bus pass through the scanner, walking into the fray of people.   
The bus was heavily crowded for a Tuesday night, Odin forced to stand and hold onto a bar for balance. People pressed on him from every side, pinning him in place.  
“A-Ava? P-Pedri?” He turned looking around, seeing no sign of either ghost. “Ava? P-pedri?” He craned his neck to see above the crowd and through the windows, still no sign of the ghosts. The bus jerked forward, sending the crowd back in a wave. For a brief moment Odin thought he saw her neon form, but the flood of bodies covered her back up in a second. The bus crawled along, the sounds of breathing, book pages turning, knitting needles clacking together, a million text notifications, idle chatter and one sided cell conversations filling the air. Suddenly the bus swerved sharply, sending everyone snapping to the right, instantly snapping toward the driver and roaring in complaint.  
“Hey, what’s the big idea?!”” Are you trying to crash or something?””Did we hit anything?!””Watch it, ya broad!””Mommy, what happened?”  
Odin turned to look through the window again, seeing a sliver of indigo and pink before the bus raced ahead. “...What the h-hell...?”

Odin managed to go through the rest of his night routine with no trouble, stopping at the post office to check for more letters from his family (and only finding bills); then off to the local ‘Art Stop’ to check for any on sale or clearance items. He got a less-than-filling fast food dinner, whistling to himself as he unlocked his apartment door, walking through and dropping his bag in shock.  
Pedri was there, crouching in front of an obviously panicked Ava. Her eyes were wide, hands shaking as she held them up to her chest; which snapped up and down rapidly as she hyperventilated. Pedri had his hands on her shoulders, fingertips going past her shoulder blades as he softly spoke to her.   
“We’re not in a crowd anymore, you’re safe here. Nothing can hurt you here Av-”  
“What the-?” The two immediately turned toward him, Odin suddenly becoming self conscious. “...A-am I i-interrupting s-something?”They kept staring, Pedri’s eyes narrowing to slits as Ava’s remained wide as saucers.  
The silence kept on stretching farther, Odin slowly deciding to break it. He leaned down, grabbing the bag of food and quickly scurrying off to his room, feeling the pair’s eyes on him long after he closed and locked the door.


	5. Little Talks

She felt like invisible hands were trying to squeeze her lungs. Her hands were shaking so badly she couldn’t even make a fist.  
People. People everywhere.  
She felt like she was trapped in the mass of bodies, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t breath, she was about to float out of her own skin. She wanted to scream, she wanted to run, she wanted to curl up and disappear.  
“O-odin... Odin, where are you?!” She felt like her throat was closing up. Every word was a struggle. “Odin?! Mom?! Dad...?” She peered through the thick crowd, trying to find something to anchor herself to.   
Suddenly, the bus jerked to the left, and she felt hands on her. She felt the entire crowd whiz by in a blur as she phased right through them, leaving her standing in Odin’s living room with Pedri’s hands on her shoulders.  
“Ava? Ava, speak to me.” He knelt down, eyeing her through his mask, muttering in a low tone.  
“I-I-I’m just...I-I need air...” She held her hands to her chest, clutching the fabric of her dress as she hyperventilated, head spinning until the slam of a door made her whip her head around, staring at Odin with wide eyes.   
A thick, uncomfortable silence filled the room as they stared at him, following him as he made his way to his room in rushed steps. Their eyes rested on his door for what felt like forever, the silence only broken when Pedri turned to Ava and asked, “Are you alright now?”  
She blinked, turning to him, remembering to breath again. “Yeah... I feel better now.”  
“Wonderful. Now I can stop fawning over you like a mother goose.” He stood, Ava having to crane her neck to look at him.  
“Pedri? Can I ask you a few things?” She gripped the front of her dress, wishing he was kneeling again. “Like, about you and demon reaper stuff?” He looked down at her, the already short girl feeling two inches tall under his glare.   
“Ask away, but I do have duties to attend to soon.”   
“O-oh. Well, thats for answering me... Mr. Pedri.”  
“Nanezgani. If you must address me by some ‘Mr.’ title, at least use my real surname.”  
“Th-thanks...Mr. Nanezgawai.”  
“Nanezgani.” He narrowed his eyes.  
“Er....” Her cheeks bloomed a bright red. “Mr. Na-nez-gan-i.... Are you really a demon? Or are you a ghost like me?”   
He let out a sigh, rolled his eyes and sunk into the couch, muttering about the cheap upholstery before he answered, “I’m neither. Now, my job- which I am fairly good at- is being a Reaper. If my apprentice would dislodge his head from his rectum and his heart from his sleeve he would be due to surpass me. ”   
She hopped up on the couch as well, nudging herself into the corner farthest from him. “Is there really a magic underworld? Like in Harry Potter or The Matrix? Do you have a family? Or a real house? Do you live in the human world? Is your wife pretty?”  
“My my, I’m certainly glad Odin doesn't have a motor mouth like yours,” He paused to think. ”Yes, there is a masquerade,” He held up his hands, fingertips glowing as he made a red planet and a purple planet.”Think of it as two worlds, stacked on top of each other,” He pushed the two planets together until they were a single red-violet mass,  
”Magical and mundane entries are mainly kept apart, occupying the same space on separate planes, but sometimes,” He glared at Ava, “There are some people who can easily cross the divide, and others who simply end up in the world they do not belong. The separate planes are only there to avoid drama between the two groups. Some disagree with it, but I am not one of them. I do not live in the human world, nor do I ever plan to. And yes...” His tone softened, shoulders slackening. “She is the light of my life. Our child is due to hatch soon.”  
“Well, where do you live? And when are they going to hatch? Is she nice? Does she have a job too?” She pulled her knees to her chest, clasping her own toes.   
“I like to say we live in paradise, but it’s merely a portside town dotted with my wife’s favorite flower. ‘Soon’ is about five years from now, and she rules over a faction of the ‘magical’ world, as you put it. And before you ask, no, I do not know why you’re not stardust by now.” He stood up, walking down the hall to Odin’s room. She noticed that he didn’t enter, instead Pedri asked for Odin to come out, tapping his foot until the man came out muttering under his breath and pulling on his jacket.   
“Uh...Mr-” Before she could speak the two were gone, nothing but a thread of indigo smoke where they used to stand. “...Mr. Nanezgani, I really want to go see my funeral...” She curled up on the couch, her head hanging down as she waited in the dark, her funeral date still fresh in her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank everyone for the views and the kudos, as well as my beta reader for being such a big help!


	6. Pink Wanderer

She felt sleepy, but no matter how long she kept her eyes closed she failed to actually sleep. Another trait of ghost hood, she presumed. “I used to love sleep...How will I do it now?” She glanced down at the snoozing kitten, poking the puffball with her toe. “Well, Lotus? What do you think? “ She leaned over the edge of the couch, closing in enough to count the hairs in the kitten’s ears. “Are you even listening to me?” She glared at Lotus, nodding and ‘listening’ as she pretended that the animal spoke. “Uh huh, I see your point. I’m big enough to go myself. It’s not like he’s my dad or anything, bluegh.” She stood up, going to the bookshelf and searching for anything useful. “Thanks, Lotus! You’re a little genius.” She went through the shelf, looking for maps, phonebooks, anything that could help her navigate the city. No luck. The only things on the shelves were fictions stories, and no matter how well James Joyce can describe Dublin, he can’t describe a random Washington city. She huffed, tossed a book and looking around, nothing but empty surfaces and musty furniture around.  
And then there was the hall that led to Odin’s room. She turned slowly to look at it, the teen foot hall seeming a mile long. “Maybe...” She took a step toward it, feeling her chest go tight and her limbs turn to sand. “But I can’t...” She took a step back, the feeling remaining. “But I’ll never know until I try!” She took a few long, heavy strides to the door, hands curled up to her chest as she stood in front of it. Her heart was in her throat, each breath a laborious task. Staring at the rusted metal, she reached for the door knob.  
“I can’t!” She felt an odd tingling in her hand as she pulled it away, like it was being dissolved in fizzy soda. “I can’t... what if he caught me?” She shamefully walked away from the door, still clutching her hand, thinking of a new plan.  
“Stupid boys... all I want is a little help and they run away.” She phased through the apartment walls, floating through Mrs. Prendergast's living room in fruitless pursuit of computer. Boxes labeled with the names of churches and charity groups lined the walls, half filled with blankets and clothes. She searched the sewing room and the bedroom, finding an ancient flip phone on the nightstand beside the bed.”Ah ha! Found yo-...” She opened it to find it dead, tossing it over her shoulder with a sigh. “Maybe the next floor will have something?”   
The girl hopped up on the bed, floating up to the apartment above, peeking into a cramped kitchen. It smelled sweet, the source appearing to be the soaps, lotions, shampoos, waxes, candles, tins of makeup and anything else that a young adult could be asked to sell. Said young adult was currently collapsed on the couch, a cardigan used as a makeshift blanket, the bright glow of her laptop throwing blue and white light over her figure.   
“H-hello?” Ava floated closer to her, feeling her chest tighten. “Hello, M-Miss...?” She picked a business card off the floor, reading out “Kenea Magdalene?” The woman remained dead asleep, letting out an undignified snore. “O-oh, I see. I’m just gonna...” She sat down in front of the laptop, looking up her family’s graveyard and how to get there. With a grin she printed the directions out, floating through the walls with her trusty paper guide.   
The night was dark and moonless, the glow of her hands barely illuminating the map. “Walk one block...turn right...walk thirteen blocks...turn left...t-take a bus across the freeway...O-or just walk, walking’s much better.” She floated along the sidewalks and roads, reconsulting her map more and more as time went on. “Walk to... wait, that doesn't match up.” She looked up, the map telling her to walk three blocks where there was now a park. “Oh no...what if...” She quickly tossed the thought away, navigating the road and further on, mentally layering the lines and blocks of the map over the roads and parks of the city.   
The iron bars than surrounded the graveyard came into her view soon enough, each topped with a piercing fleur de france. Beyond that, she saw tiny graves flush to the ground, giving way to simple tablet graves, great obelisks and the rare mausoleum. The early morning sun rose behind her, painting the scene in golden sun.   
“How does this work again...?” She dropped her map, nervously stepping toward the bars. She tried passing through them, finding herself as solid as brick and unable to pass. “What? Why now?!” She tried again and again, her ghostly glow increasing as her nerves frayed. “Why can’t I do it!? Just this once, when I really need it!” She launched herself at the bars, smacking right into them. Omph! She hit the ground, sighing in defeat. “Why is ghost hood so hard?”   
Ava dusted herself off, taking a deep breath, imagining herself walking right through the bars, as transparent as glass. She stepped forward, feeling the iron pass right through her feet. Her chest swelled with excitement, but she remained calm as she stepped through again, her glow nearly gone now.   
She looked back to the fence, then to the graveyard, grinning at her achievement, immediately glowing like a firework. “I did it!” She held her fists up in the air, noticing her glow and how heavy she felt, gears turning in her brain.  
“I figured it out! It’s all based on...on feelings! I just have to be calm and I can-can...I can control it. ”   
She grinned wider, reveling in her achievement before forcing herself to take a deep breath, holding her hands out and closing her eyes. It was minutes before she daring to open them, looking at her hands and finding them to be nearly transparent, her glow invisible to the naked eye. “I knew it.” She floated deeper into the graveyard, checking the gravestones for names of her family members and herself.  
She did find herself, stuck in between Grandma and Grandpa Ire and her uncle Alt. The girl sat beside her gravestone, marveling at the highly decorated stone, stroking a marble rose as she willed herself to be as calm as possible, butterflies in her stomach as she thought of what would happen in just a few hours’ time.


	7. Never Have I Ever Attended my Own Funeral

It was a somber affair, the sunshine that had graced the morning shooed away by storm clouds before high noon. She hid behind her gravestone, too scared of being seen or even seeing her family gathered around a-her-coffin.   
All she could do was stay curled up behind the stone, listening as a rarely spoken to pastor spoke about how God gives and God takes away. Her parents were sobbing, her mother’s wails muffled by something Ava couldn't see. Her aunts pat her mother’s back and whispered comforting words, her uncles and cousins standing by soberly. Her last grandparent came far too close to the gravestone, muttering about how their poor darling was gone now.   
She already knew no friends had come.  
As the pastor’s monologue finally wound down, she tentatively peeked over the gravestone, anxiety gnawing at her. It was exactly as Ava had pictured it (with fewer people). Her parents and grandparent were sobbing, her cousins holding the hands of her aunts and uncles, and the same bald pastor from her childhood closing a well worn bible.   
She didn't imagine there would be a bare patch of grass instead of a coffin. But she could see a tiny box in her mother’s arms, unable to take her eyes off it. That was her, those were her remains. She was in a tiny box, decorated with poppies, roses and smiling angels, her mother wailing as she stroked the lid.   
Her chest felt tight and her eyes stung, teeth clenched tight to choke back sobs. She sniffled, burying her head in her hand and rubbing her eyes and tears began to fall. Ava wanted forced herself to glow like a firefly and run up to them, hugging her mother and promising she'd never leave again and they'd just be happy all over again...  
But she couldn’t. And they’d never be that happy again.  
And she couldn't do a single thing about it.  
And the hands on her shoulders wouldn't let her. She looked up, trying to summon a fiery glare with tear filled eyes. Pedri remained as stoic as ever, his gaze sweeping over the procession like he was just waiting for a late bus to arrive. Ava followed his gaze just in time to see a man peel away from the back of the crowd, saying he was terribly sorry for her parent’s loss.   
Ava wanted to jump up and hit him. How dare they? How dare they? Not even helping her get to her own funeral then bursting onto the scene?! Invading her family’s private to to grieve? Trying to act like they even belonged here? Oh, she felt like she could burst into flames and tackle them both. The stifling July air suddenly felt hotter as she curled her hands into fists, grimacing as more salty tears ran down her cheeks. She couldn't think straight, she couldn't think at all as raging emotions tumbled around her mind. She didn't know what to do, so she just let go and let nature take its course.  
“How dare you?!” She spun around, lashing out at the closest thing to her. “H-how dare you?! Why did y-you- How can you do this?!” She clawed at him, her throat choked up with sobs, harsh shrieks tearing out of her throat. “Get out! Get away! Go away! You don’t belong here! You don’t deserve to be here!” Ava pounded at him with her fists, his indifference worse that a spit to the face.   
“Get out! Get ooout!!! I can't believe you! Get away from here!” She kept pounding on him, wailing out her emotions. The man only reacted when she nearly yanked his mask off, pulling back and holding his mask in place.   
“Ava.” He let the word drop like a stone, his voice tense. “Stop.” He reached for her wrists, holding her arms above her head and impatiently waiting for her to wear herself out.   
“P-pedri! Wh-what the...” He was dressed in the same clothes as last night, the only thing new being a worn black jacket. And he had darker bags under his eyes than yesterday, hair unbrushed.   
“I told you she would be here, did I not?” He raised his hands, painfully lifting the ghost girl off the ground; prompting Ava to let out another sheik.   
“...” Odin ran a hand through his hair, beads of sweat on his brow. “I-I...”   
“Don’t lose her or the other one again. Who knows what might happen.” He set Ava down, the girl giving him a glare as she rubbed her wrists.   
Odin stepped toward her tentatively,hands out and voice dropped to a whisper. “A-ava, l-listen... I-I’m sorry I c-couldn’t come here with you b-but... th-this last job was really tough... ”


	8. How Not To Pick Fights, Starring Maggie and Ava

“What the fuck?”  
“...”  
“Well?! Anything to say?!” The girl remained draped over the couch, her glare boring holes into the other girl.  
Ava never imagined she’d see her again, and yet here she was, dyed shades of green and dead just like her. “M-maggie..”  
“Yes, Maggie. Mag-gie La-ci-vi. Glad to see the psychosis didn’t screw with all of your memory.” She rolled her eyes, sitting up and yawning. “If you’re going to have another psychotic episode, just do it outta my sight and outta my way.”  
“Maggie, that wasn’t what you th-”  
“I’m sorry. Do you need some time alone or can I enter my own apartment!?” Odin leaned over Ava’s shoulder, standing halfway through the wide open door. “I-I m-mean you’re l-letting the flies i-in.” Odin shoved her inside, slamming the door on invisible insects and headed to his room, leaving the two ghost in tense silence.  
“It really wasn’t what you think! I-I had....this thing...”  
“You’ve had two years to think of an excuse that that’s what you come up with?” Maggie narrowed her eyes, reaching for a nearly depleted water bottle. “Honestly, Ava, I thought aaallllllll those years of hanging out with me would teach you a thing or two about decent lying.”  
“No! Really! I had...” She held her hands out, the gears in her brain turning fruitlessly to try and think of a way to explain.  
“You had a fucked up brain, Ava. Or have.” She chugged down the bottle, tossing it behind her. “How was homeschooling, by the way? Was it really hard enough for you to burn out?” She winked, a venomous smirk on her face.  
“...” Ava felt like she’d been slapped right in the face, stabbed, even. She couldn’t believe her former friend even said that. Her eyes dropped down to the coffee table, the sting in her friend’s smile too painful to look at directly. Staring at the table was actually a good way to tune out the other, she found. Bills, dirty bowls, razors, scattered flower petals, they were all suddenly the most interesting things in the room. Maggie’s voice kept on droning at the edge of her vision until a cyan hand snapped right in her face.  
“Are you even listening to me?!” Maggie grabbed Ava’s hair, forcing her to look right at her.  
“Hey!” Ava grabbed the roots of her hair, trying to null the painful yanking. “No! Let go of me!” Her free hand reached down, grasping something heavy. She lifted it high above her head, bringing it down on Maggie as hard as she could.  
“OW!” Soup flew all over the couch and wall, a neat imprint of the bowl’s bottom embedded into Maggie’s forehead. “What the hell, Ava!?” Maggie curled up her fist, slamming it right into Ava’s jaw. Ava countered with another flail of her hand, the bowl smashing right into Maggie’s shoulder.  
“OOF!” Maggie tossed Ava onto the floor, holding her in place by her hair and shaking her head violently. “Doesn’t this remind you of something, Ava?!” Maggie socked Ava in the jaw just as the other’s arm shot out, hitting her right in the neck.  
“What is going on here?!” Odin marched out of his room, the door ajar behind him and something in his hand. His eyes traveled from a Ava to Maggie to the new stains all over, eyes widening. “Oh my god.”  
Maggie ‘helpfully’ pointed a finger at Ava, one hand still tangled in her pink dyed hair. “Her fault. She started it.”  
Odin just kept glaring at pair, letting out what was possibly the longest sigh on earth and walking toward them. He started at the coffee table briefly, letting the girls’ tension grow until he held up a... candy wrapper?  
“This is The Brick. Got it? Th-the Brick is the only thing in this apartment you can touch until f-further notice.” He kept on holding up the wrapper, waiting for the girls to respond.  
“The brick?” Maggie quirked an eyebrow as she climbed off the floor.  
“Y-yeah, The Brick.”  
“You’re calling a Snickers wrapper a brick?”  
“If y-you guys ruin my ap-partment, I’ll kick you out..a-and I d-don’t get my deposit back.”  
“Okay, okay, yeah, fine, whatever. I want some more water.” She started walking toward the kitchen, a plastic bottle floating after her.  
“...Y-you already had three g-gallons, idiot...”


	9. Or, How odin never got his deposit back

Just her luck. Really, it was just her luck to end up dead, in some smelly guy’s apartment, with Ava Ire to keep her company, of all people. She turned on the faucet, wincing at the green-purple-blue colored water stagnating in the sink for possibly the tenth time, resisting the urge to plug her nose as she refilled the water bottle. Ugh, why wasn’t it going away? She drank down the entire thing in seconds, the dryness in her mouth and throat remaining. Wasn't death supposed to end pain?   
"G-Geez, I d-don't even use th-that much water to sh-shower." The voice behind her practically came out of nowhere, causing her to spit take and whirl around.   
"You what?! Oh my gosh, that's Disgusting!" She immediately pulled her arms away from the counters, eyeing the plastic tops warily. "Ugh! Why couldn't you have been some rich guy in a nice, clean penthouse or something?" She gave the scruffy man a stink eye that could kill, but couldn't compete with the rotten smell drifting from the fridge. He shot her an unamused look right back, their impasse only interrupted by flickering lights and a shaking floor.   
"What the the hell?!"  
"G-great... m-more dead people." Odin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and lowering his head, the monstrous man appearing behind him in a flurry of indigo smoke and golden dragonflies. "G-give me one s-second, th-then I'm r-ready."   
Odin opened the the fridge, grabbing a raw egg and cracking it on the counter, fearlessly plopping the mix into his mouth, yolk and all.   
"Oh my god! That is so gross!" Maggie leapt back like the egg shell was about to jump up and bite her, Odin shrugging as more smoke formed.   
"Hey, it's food." And with that, the pair of men disappeared.  
"..." Maggie sighed, her face in her palm. "It's official. I'm in hell, I sinned and this...this is my punishment." She dramatically held onto the fridge handle, looking like she was about to collapse.   
A pink light soon invaded the edge of her vision, a tiny voice invading her airspace. "Maggie?"  
"Leave me, Ava. Leave me here to double diiie..." She slid down the fridge, collapsing on the ground in a heap.   
Ava crouched, hugging her knees as she looked at the other girl. "You're so overdramatic, Maggie. Oh... And you're laying in kitten poo." She pointed through Maggie's torso, at a dark pile on the floor.   
"Gross!" Maggie instantly sprang up, feverishly wiping off her dress as she floated in the air. "Gross gross gross groooss!"   
“I guess Lotus needs more litterbox training.” She toed some old magazine over the mess, looking around for the cause of said mess.  
“What it needs is to be thrown in the river! I can’t take this off and wash it, you know!” She held part of her dress away from her, displaying a stain that wasn’t there.  
“You could wash yourself in the river.”Ava walked off,clicking her tongue and snapping her fingers. “Heeere Lotus, Lotus, Lotus.”   
“Riiight...” Maggie rolled her eyes, sitting criss-cross in mid air. “It’s all his fault, if he hadn’t... god... I can’t believe I let him do this to me!” Her head ended up in her hands, replaying the memories in perfect order. “All for a stupid crush.” 

It must have been hours later, after Odin had come back home and sequestered himself in his bedroom, after Ava had trapped Lotus in the bathroom for hours in a litterbox training attempt, after Maggie had let herself float in the kitchen forever, replaying her memories until they blurred together.   
That’s then the man appeared.   
He came in silently, barely noticed, barely seen. His body was all vines and leaves, tall enough to scrape the ceiling. His voice low and soft and far too small for his broad chest. Hands the size of trash can lids reached up to pluck the ghost girl out of the air, soft voice spilling forth.  
“Maggie.”  
“Go away!” She turned toward him, eyes on fire as she quickly shot out of his range. “This- This all your fault you know! Why didn’t you tell me I’d die if you didn’t get your stupid trinket back?! You did this!”   
“Maggie, I explained to you once. ” The plant man’s face remained dour, his arms hanging limply.  
“What?! When?! Bullshit, I don’t remember that! Tell me again!” The ghost girl threw her arms up, turning toward the man.  
“...And I said I wouldn’t explain to you again. Had you listened you would have heard that... and much more...”  
“On, come on, man. Just this once!” She floated around him, hanging onto his shoulders.   
The man let out a sigh, great shoulders slackening. “No.”  
“What!? Oh, come on, pleeease?” She looped her arms around his neck, hands clasped in a prayer.  
“No.”  
“Fine!” She yelled in his ear. She contemplated this, trying to think of a way to get the words out of this mouth. A kitten’s first hiss was heard down the hall, giving her an idea. “Fine... Then don’t tell me. Tell Ava Ire.”  
“Ava?”  
“Go tell Ava.” She pointed down the hall, where a girl’s voice yelling ‘Ow!’ could be heard. “Go tell her. I won’t listen to a word, scout’s honor.” She held a hand to her heart and the other in the air.   
“You want me to tell...A-ya?” He arched a brow.  
“Yeah, go tell A-va.” She pointed toward the hall again, shaking her arm.  
“Okay.” He said flatly, lumbering through the toothpick sized hallway, causally opening the locked door and breaking it right off the hinges. He sat down in the tiny bathroom, his knees coming up to his ears, the ghost girl staring at him with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.   
“Ava Ire.”


	10. Will Float for Bed and Board

“Wh-what the hell are yo-”  
“Sh!”  
“M-maggie wh-what h-h-happened t-t-t...to my d-”  
“SH!”  
“Oh m-my God! What the f-fuck happened to my door?!”  
“Shhhhhhhh! Shh! Shhoo shoo shuuush!” Maggie crouched lower, trying to spy on the pair through the slanted gap between the door and the frame. She couldn’t see anything beyond the broad expanse of Tuls’ viney back, just her luck. She saw him holding up a hand, something colorful in the palm of his hand. What the heck was he showing her? She strained her ears, the soft rumble of the man’s voice utterly unintelligible. A distinct gasp cut across the air, bell voiced syllables ringing out. For a few minutes they spoke back-and-forth, the tone of the conversation changing to something she couldn’t pin down. “Damn it, what did she even s-”   
“O-Oh my God-d! Wh-who d-did th-this?!” Odin threw his arms up, hands fisted in his own hair as he surveyed the damage. “Oh god, o-ho n-no, o-o-oh g-god...th-this is n-not h-h-happening...” He tenderly reached out, grabbing the door by either side and watching as the door came away from the frame with ease, each side a mess of splinters.  
Instantly the pair in the bathroom turned toward the two, seeing Maggie blushing like a caught peeping tom and Odin looking worriedly pale, holding the splintered door.   
“Oh my god...I-I am *n-n-never* getting m-my de-deposit b-back...”  
“Hi.”

There was a long period where no one spoke and no one moved, frozen in their poses and alone with their thoughts. 

“It seems....my speech is over.” Tuls stood, his head scraping the ceiling despite the heavy slouch he had. He walked by the pair as if they weren’t even there, each step both lumbering and soundless as he exited.  
“Tuls! Wait!” Ava ran after him, nearly tripping on Maggie on her way out. “Tuls!”  
Odin looked like he was about to have a heart attack, eyes wide as dinner plates and his face pale as a ghost. He gently set the door down, backing away from it like he’d just been shot and smacking into the opposite wall. “O-oh my god, I-I need to fix this. I-i-if I don’t get my deposit back..” He drew in a sharp breath, not letting it out for a long time.  
“Odin?” maggie looked up from her investigation, walking toward him. “You okay, man?”  
He finally let out a breath, his face now tinged red. “Oh god I-Ican’tbelievethis.” He stopped leaning on the wall, walking out into the living room in a daze, collapsing onto the couch. “I-if i don’t get that money back I-I’m never gonna see my family ever again.”  
“Woah, woah.... What?! Slow down there, man.” She held her hands out, stepping toward him carefully, as if he might explode at any second.   
“That money...I *need* that money. I-I can’t get out of the state without that money.” He fisted a hand in his hair, staring at the ground. “...Get out."   
Maggie arched an eyebrow, staring at Odin. "What?"   
"G-get out. I-I'm not gonna l-let this happen again. G-g-get out." Odin exhaled for what felt like an eternity, glaring at Maggie.   
"You're... serious, right?" She glanced at the front door.   
He nodded, eyes wide, his pupils the size of pinpricks.   
"Oh....oh! So I'm gonna.... float.... This way..." She awkwardly navigated her way out the door, waving at him. "Just so you know..."  
"J-J-Just go." He shot up off the couch, headed to his bedroom.   
"...bye" Maggie drifted through the door, nearly ramming into Ava, who was speaking to Tuls.  
"I promise! I promise I'll help you find it! Then you can see her again and Maggie can... Maggie?" Ava turned around, staring at Maggie.   
"Lumberjack boy just kicked us out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't posted recently, we had to move out of the blue and it pretty much knocked me right on my ass.


	11. Sugar Plum Exposition Fairy

"He what?!" Ava's face instantly turned a reddish pink, eyes wide.   
"Do I have to write it down? Lumberjack boy *kicked us out*. Threw a fit and said 'g-g-g-g-g-g-get out'. Maggie rolled her eyes, letting out a huff. "S'not like *im* upset, that place was a dump." She shrugged, looking out towards the late night cityscape and imagining all the lavish apartments she was free to explore now.   
“Maggie! Do you even realize-”   
“Realize I’m free to see all of the city? Ah, I know, it’s wonderful.” She shot Ava a sarcastic smile.   
“Maggie! I... I can’t believe you! This place was like home to me! It was better than home actually...” Her shoulders slackened as she crossed her arms, looking away mournfully. “I didn’t have to deal with her anymore...”  
Maggie raised an eyebrow, thinking back to her scant memories of Ava’ parents. They were nice people and fairly well off, she used to joke they were too nice to get sacked with a nutcase like Ava. “Ava who’s.... ’her’?” She made air quotes around the word.  
“Well...” Ava had to take a breath, mulling over her thoughts for a few seconds. “She was like my demon. Always tormenting me and and telling me I was worthless and forcing me to do terrible things and-and she killed me! She killed me, Maggie! She forced me to set my own bed on fire and climb into it!” By now tears rolled down her pink cheeks, rolling down to her bitten lip.   
Maggie just stood there, eyes getting wider with each word the other said. Ava’s mother- Maggie couldn’t believe a word of it. It all had to be a joke, a side effect of Ava’s depression riddled head. “Ava. Did your mom really do that? I- But she’s so-...” She just stared at her, jaw slack.  
“It wasn’t my mom. She tried to help, but she didn’t believe me. I told her over and over I had this-this demon controlling me! She never thought i was being serious and just told me to take my pills.” Ava’s face was bitter and ugly, cheeks stained with tears and her lips in a harsh frown.  
“Ava, this isn’t-” She shook her head groaning.”Who is ‘her’?! Spit it out already!”   
“I don’t know!” Ava threw her hands in the air, running them through her ragged hair. She was just this- this ghost with lava skin and horns and really long hair and points everywher-”  
“Wrathia Bellarmina.” Tuls said, instantly catching the attention of the pair. “Wrathia Bellarmina, she’s been missing five years now. She went on a pleasure trip into the mortal world and hasn’t been seen since.” He raised a finger, pointing at Ava. “You found something she lost. Without she could not return and was bound to you. Just as has happened to me-” He pointed at Maggie. ”And her.”   
Maggie glared at him as Ava asked another round of questions. “Well...why didn’t she tell me? I would have if she-... Where is she now? Since I’m a ghost and all?” She tugged on a strand of hair, making her disheveled appearance even worse.   
“I’ve no idea. But I’m sure she’ll find what she lost in time. I’m not sure what will happen to you afterwards, though. Or Maggie, once you fulfill our promise.” He gave her a comforting smile, warily looking at Maggie.   
“Wait?! What the fuck is this about a promise?” She furrowed her brow, shooting them both the evil eye. “Hands off my demon, Ava!” She took a step towards the other ghost girl right as the air crackled terribly. The once quiet winds roared, making tree branches shake and throwing litter around. Black clouds and thunder rolled in, Pedri appearing in front of them in one mighty crack.   
“Tenebrose.” He said coldly, knocking on the door and roughly yanking Odin over the threshold the moment he opened to door. “H-hey!” Odin ended up dropping and spilling a can of black paint on the floor. In another crack of lightening the pair disappeared.   
“...Nanezgani...?”


	12. A Love Letter to Tessa Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically it's still a Monday. Well, I'm really glad to get to this chapter because it's got a few nods to my favorite web comic of all time and the plot's really starting to roll! Can't wait to hear your comments, see you next Monday!

“What the f-fuck P-pedri?!” Odin tried to smooth down his hair, knowing the wet paint on his hands would leave black streaks. “Do y-y-you ev-ven kn-n-now what I was d-doing?!” He glared at the demon with wide eyes and grit teeth.   
“Painting a rune powerful enough to turn any paranormal entity that touches your door into stardust, just like the one of your bedroom door.” Pedri said flatly, staring down at the human with scorn. “I told you this little scheme was a bad idea. That’s one of your many problems, you never listen to me.”  
Odin glared at him in silence, pulling out a homemade cigarette and looking around the dark back alley and seeing discarded signs for various plays and musicals. “A-A theatre, huh? Who would off themselves here?”   
“Someone who failed their entrance exams for medical school and hung themselves from despair. I’ve been reaping your souls for millennia and yet I still don’t understand you humans.” Pedri rattled off, stepped away from him, arms crossed.   
“Odin! Odin get your ass over here!” Maggie Lacivi stormed down the alley, glowing bright as a fireworks show with her hand wrapped around Ava’s arm. She was panting, recovering for another scream, “Odin?!”   
“W-what?” He turned to see her, smoke pouring out of his lips. “M-maggie why do you h-have A-”  
“Tell Ava-” She shoved the girl towards him. “-That she can’t make some promise to my demon just to find some chintzy trinket and get right of me!”She curled her hands into fists, taking a breath for a rant.   
“You stay.” He pointed at Maggie, cutting her off. “You come.” He took Ava’s arm, walking into the dark theatre as fast as he could to avoid further argument.   
“...” Maggie looked up at the massive reaper, crossing her arms. “Uh... hey. Name’s Maggie.”   
“Name’s Pedri.”

“Let me go already!” Ava pried off Odin’s hand, glowing brightly with anger. “I’m sick of getting yanked around today!” She crossed her arms, curling up into a ball in mid air.   
“Uh huh, y-yeah. M-Mope there, b-b-but watch out, there’s a gh-”  
Suddenly, a pained scream rang out from all directions as the hall lit up in a blinding cyan light, turning the world to nothing but bright blue as a feral, skeletal ghost shot down the hall and right through Odin. For a split second he felt nothing but the raw, burning pain of suffocation that gave way to the feel of getting electrocuted in a split second. A voice he didn’t understand exploding in his head, popping his ears and stabbing icles into every inch of his body.   
“ODIN!” Ava reached out as he crumbled to the ground, barely getting a glimpse of the blinding ghost turning the corner. “Odin?! Oh no, oh god. Pedri! Pedri, something happened!” She looked around frantically, yellow tears forming in her eyes. She looked down at Odin, checking for a pulsing before bolting away. “Please don’t die!”

“So... if you get your wife I get to stay?” Maggie raised an eyebrow, mulling over the demon’s story. His wife was trapped, maybe dead, and he was looking for her in every reaped soul. She almost wanted to say something about Ava, but if she did that she couldn’t get her deal.   
“Yes, it is the smallest reward I could give someone for returning my wife”  
“Well, Pedri Nanezgani-” She held her hand out with a smile. ”I sincerely promise to bring your wife back to you.” Pedri took her hand and shook it firmly just as Ava burst from the theatre, in a panic as she hurriedly explained that Odin was in trouble and Pedri needed to come help.   
“I think Odin just got attacked by a ghost! Pedri, please, come help!” She rushed over to Pedri, forgetting her fear of him and grabbing his wrist, pulling him toward the theatre. “Come on if you don’t he’s gonna die there!” She pulled him again but it was like trying to move a mountain. ”Pedri?! Why aren’t you-?”  
“I don’t care if he lives or dies, I have other outlets to achieve my goals.” he looked toward the other ghost girl holding his hand, who was smiling up at him as if he was a tall stack of money.


	13. 13 is unlucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be warned, this chapter is a bit gorey and dark so I had to bump up the rating.

 

Ava couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Maggie beamed at Pedri, her green hands lost in his own. She seemed to glow a brighter green, casting a foreboding light over the discarded posters with warped faces. And her tone wasn’t right, it was too light and flirty for such a heavy promise. Ava couldn’t watch this anymore, running right back into the theatre, hoping Odin was still alive.  
  
“Odin? Odin?! Ooo- Who are you?” Ava ran across a blonde girl who looked blue skinned in the low lights.   
  
She looked around frantically, irritatedly tugging on her long sleeves and muttering to herself. “Can’t believe that failure would... No good... Runs off after he fails... No room for him in my...” She let out an exasperated groan, not noticing Ava and walking right through her.   
  
Avas gasped, she felt she’d turned to sand as the other just breezed right through her ghostly body. It was a rather unpleasant reminder of her mortality. Brushing off the unpleasant experience she decided to follow the blonde after the dimly lit theatre, eyes constantly peeled for Odin. “Please...find him. Please!” Ava grabbed the girl’s wrists and shoved her through the halls, feeling her chest tighten with worry for the mortal adult. ”He can’t die now! Find him!”

A sharp gasp from the woman told her all she needed to know, looking down the hall to find Odin holding onto the wall with a worrying wet stain on his shirt and at his feet. He spit on the floor, wiping his mouth and looking up to see the blue and pink girls. “Y-y-you’re not... s-sup-pposed to b-be here...” He pointed at the blonde, not noticing Ava for the time being. “Get out!” He stood up straight, seeming to grow ten feet tall as he walked toward her. “G-get out, th-there’s something-”

Odin was interrupted by a banshee sounding shirek. The other end of the hall was bathed in foreboding cyan light as the two mortals ran.

“What is that thing?!” The woman yelled, turning her head to see clawed fingers curling over the corner between two halls.

“Bad! V-very bad!” Odin yelled, trying to grab her hand and pull her away just as she sped ahead of him and into the damp, dark alley.

“What the-” She can to a dead stop in front of the demon and the ghost, eyes wide as she looked up at the grim reaper. “Wh-wh-...wh-wha-” Pedri snapped his head toward her, her blood running ice cold as he narrowed his eyes. Beneath his mask he let out a guttural growl, raising his hand toward her as she fearfully backed away. “Wh-wh-wh...”

In the span of an instant she was torn apart from the inside out. Every last muscle fiber was ripped apart, the girl’s skin bulging and warping as her inner organs were torn to ribbons. All she could do was shed a single tear as her skin slowly cracked fluid began to ooze out, blocked by a clot of shredded membrane. She tried to look the monster in the eyes, her own thoroughly bloodshot. A gurgle escaped her throat, the beginnings of a syllable squashed as blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth.

What had once been a human fell on the dirty ground in a foul smelling heap.

Odin burst onto the scene just in time to watch Pedri lower his hand. “P-pedri what did you do?!” He stared at the demon with wide eyes and pinpoint pupils, disgust written all over his face. Perdi remained unperturbed, staring right through the young reaper. Odin stepped closer, pulling his shirt over his nose to block out the nauseating smell filling the alley.

“Wh-what d-d-did you d-do?! She wasn’t even- I c-c-can’t...I... I c-c-can’t be-believe you! H-how c-could y-’”

“Quiet, you stuttering coward. She saw me, no mortals ever look at me and live. I only spared that useless interviewer because you tried to spit out some ridiculous excuse. She didn’t have that luxury. It could be said her death is on your hands.” Pedri looked down at the angered man, the two getting into an intense stare down only broken by Ava’s gasp.

“What the-”

“Pedri put some brat in her place.” Maggie said, currently wrapped around Pedri’s arm, unfazed by recent events. “It was so cool.” She actually smiled, leaning on the demon’s shoulder. Ava couldn’t stand staying there another second, dashing back into the theatre and back to the feral ghost, Odin broke the stare down, watching her glow disappear into the building and chasing her inside.

 

* * *

 

“A-ava!” He skidded to a stop, seeing her standing still in the middle of a messy dressing room. A pair of feet were barely illuminated by her glow, limply hanging in mid air. She slowly turned toward Odin, her face, a furrow on her brow and a frown on her lips. “Is... this the ghost you were looking for?” She pointed up at the corpse, a teenaged boy with tear stained cheeks and warped face.

Odin walked in, following her finger. He had no idea if that thing was this kid’s ghost or not but he sure hoped it was. He grimaced looking up at him, taking in all the usual grimy details. He never understood people who thought death was romantic. It was ugly and dirty and no matter how much you went to the bathroom beforehand your lunch always ended up sliding down your legs. “I think it is.” He looked around for a tell-tale knocked over chair or a ladder, his blood freezing in his veins went he saw the feral ghost staring at him from the mirror.


	14. With apologizes to Tessa Stone

The ghost sprung at Odin, knocking him down and forcing him to take in every detail of the beast.

It looked like it was a skeleton made of pure lightening, with the spine overgrown into a ghostly tail. Its eyes and maw looked like clawed out black holes steadily coming closer...trying to consume him...

"GIL!"

The thing looked up, snapping its head toward the sound and leaving, flying through the corpse as a cyan noose floated around its neck.

"Odin! Odin, are you alright?" Ava ran over to him, eyes wide in worry. He was shivering and spasming on the floor. A wordless sound tried to pass his lips, too slurred and stuttered to be recognizable. Ava reached out to touch him and he was so cold he could have been made of ice. "Odin!" His lips turned blue in seconds, his fingers turning black from frostbite.

Suddenly he spasmed hard, head thrown back and chest thrust into the air. He let out a dry gasp, chest snapping up and down hard as she struggled for breath. “Odin! Odin, don’t die, please, Odin please you can’t die here just breath! Breath! Please!” Ava reached out for him, her hands passing through him. His eyes were bloodshot now, his face blue as he clawed at his own chest. “Odin, please! Please don’t die! Odin I-I’m so sorry... I-I can’t help you...” Ava felt her eyes ache as tears poured down her face, watching him gasp for air and reach out to her.

 

* * *

  

“Giiiiil...”  The ghostly woman floated ahead of the beastly thing, blowing bubbles to guide him towards her. He gawked at the things, reaching out for them and jumping back when they popped under his electric touch. “Giiiiil...” She floated around him in a circle, blowing more bubbles. “Gil, tsk tsk tsk, you can’t keep behaving like this.” Pink and red arms reached out, cupping his cheeks and smoothing the jagged flesh underneath. The feral ghost moved easily with her movements as she sculpted the loose bolts of lightening into smooth, ghostly flesh, dyed green and blue.   
“I know Nevy... I’m sorry...” He put his hand over hers, leaning into her touch. “I just... I worked so hard, I was convinced TiTAN Medical would want me. I don’t know why I failed. I-If they didn’t accept me, my entire life would have been wasted.”   
“Gil! Don’t say that! You have me, and you have all that med knowledge in your head,” She floated closer, tapping his forehead.  

“They said I-”  
“Hush, Gil. What they said meant nothing. They just couldn’t see your potential.” She pat his cheek, taking his hands and floating around in circles. “Now, what do we say you stay calm and keep yourself all kept together? For us? What would TiTAN say if they saw you running amok like some beast?”   
“...” He looked down, letting out a soft sigh. “They’d be-”

“And stop thinking about them, they couldn’t give us what we wanted, now could they?  
“But Nevy it was my fault-”

“But Giiiil, You’re making me feel upset talking about them.” She furrowed her brows, eyes getting shiny with unshed tears as she stared at him.  
“Ugh, alright. No more about TiTAN. Does that mean I can’t talk about-” The door of the room they were in lit up, painted light blue by the glow of the newborn ghost.  
“Prudith?”

 

* * *

 

“You what?” Tuls’ eyes went as wide as they could go, his slit pupils turning into faint lines. “Magnolia. What in the galaxy did you do?” The beast of a ghost looked from the girl to the grim reaper and back to the girl, jaw slack from shock.   
“Yep! Pretty sweet deal, huh? I get rid of Ava and immortality in one fell swoop!” Maggie beamed up at him, cheeks threatening to overtake her eyes completely. “I mean- you did make that promise with Ava.” She tilted her head, a much more accusing look on her face as she narrowed her eyes.   
“Maggie, you don’t understand. Wratiha has been missing for- for years. No one’s found her, I’m not sure if anyone can anymore.”

“Well I say I CAN!” She jabbed a finger in his direction, hair bouncing with her jerky movements. “And why don’t you run off and find that pink wimp and that stupid trinket so you can get rid up of me!”  She spun around on her heel, walking toward Pedri and twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

“Magnolia...” He huffed, knowing that talking to the teenager now would be like talking to a brick wall. Taking her advice, the treebeast turned to the theatre, wandering the halls of rotten wood. Suddenly, the familiar glow of a pink ghost filled the doorway, tears streaked down her face and hair a mess.   
“Odin’s dying! Please, help!”


	15. Precursor to Despair

“Again?” Pedri rumbled, head faintly turning with the roll of his eyes. Maggie’s eyes seemed to light up at all the implications, scrambling for a snarky comment to toss out.   
“You’d think as a reaper he’d already be familiar death! Ha! Looks like he’s just getting a bit greedy!” She looked up to the man for approval, finding none.

“Please! Th-this is serious! He’s your charge! He’s dying! Don’t you want to help him?!” Ava pleaded with the man, searching his masked face for anything that resembled mercy.   
Soon the demon let out an exasperated sigh, uncrossing his arms and marching into the theatre. “This had better not end with another sniveling ghost clinging to his leg. He’s the worst apprentice I’ve had in millennia.”   
Ava winced as a thought she didn’t want to finish crossed her mind. Shoving aside all her fears about what the fully fledged Reaper would do she followed, throwing her glow over the walls. The man marched on, in complete ignorance of the ghost girl behind him. He navigated the reed thin halls and turns with ease despite having never set foot in the building, soon reaching the shivering male.   
Odin was curled up on his side in a tight ball, trying to breath warm air onto his black, frostbitten hands. “H-h-h--hhe--help me...” His bloodshot eyes were trained not on the Reaper but the girl behind him, only looking at Pedri when he walked right up to him.

“Pathetic. One feral ghost and you’re balled up on the floor like a frightened child.” He took the man’s wrist in a vice grip, wrenching him to his feet and examining his black, wood stiff fingers. “Healing you is a waste of my finite magic. I ought to let all your fingers fall off so you learn your lesson for once.” Odin didn’t even respond, scowling at the elder Reaper while Ava watched from the doorway.

“J-J-just f-fix them alr-ready.” He kept glaring right back at the Reaper as his frostbitten hands and face were magically warmed, massive blisters forming and popping, the skin falling off and new skin growing in seconds. The second he was done Pedri shoved Odin away, commanding him to find the ghosts and to _reap_ them this time, turning his head and letting his gaze linger on the pink ghost.

Ava had no trouble stepping aside when he left the room.

* * *

 “Gil?!” Prudith stepped closer, face a mix of shock and abhor. “Gil...” Her shoulders slackened until they looked like they were going to melt, brow furrowing in pity before she snapped back to loathing him. “ _How could you_?!” Her fists clenched, teeth grit and lip raised in a snarl. “How could you?!” She stepped closer, the other ghost stepping back.

“I-I.... I didn’t- I was-”  
  
“How could you?!  You- you... I’m dead because of you! How could you be so selfish?! Just because one thing didn’t go your way you ran off and killed yourself?! What are your parents going to think?! The _professors_?! A-and what about me?! I _died_ because of you!” Her diatribe stopped there, a lump in her ghostly throat and eyes stinging. “I-... I... Why?” She looked to the other, begging for an answer that would never come. Closure she’d never get. Comfort she’d never have.

“Hmph. Maybe if you weren’t so nosey...” Nevy floated between the former classmates, arms wrapping around his shoulders. “We both know you really didn’t care about my Gil.” She turned to the male teen, whispering to him while Prudith reeled from offense.

“You-! You disgust me!” She spun on her heel, marching away. “Can’t believe she- Worthless hag, no good little-!”

She stopped in her tracks, heart in her throat as she recognized the bare, indigo chest in front of her. He raised his arms to cross them, the blue ghost gasping and trying to step back, shivering as she tried to meet the demon’s eye. He was... monstrous. Taller than anyone she’d ever seen. Prudith felt like she had to bow down and apologize for everything she’d ever done wrong standing in front of him.   
Slowly he untangled an arm, long fingers reaching for her and snapping her out of her trance, sending her running. In her panic she barrelled right through walls, her most primal instincts rising to the surface and screaming at her to get away faster, that he was still hungry and still chasing her, to run and avoid becoming a meal.

In her haste she ran right through a pink ghost and a bulky man, the collision feeling like she’d had her ‘body’ dissolved like ink in water then gathered back together just to be thrown into a brick wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it took so long! hit a massive writer's block but I've found a way from A to B now!


End file.
